Puig the Prodigy

June 17, 2013 · No Comments

By Jake Greenberg

In 2012, there were many new superstars to the MLB, but not many people realized that there was a player so talented, that he could rise to fame after one day in the MLB. While Yoenis Cespedes had been the most sought after Cuban player during the 2012 offseason, but teams were so focused on the tremendous skills of Cespedes, including his freakish athleticism, that Yasiel Puig flew under the radar. Puig was an extremely raw talent, but the Dodgers recognized the fact that he had such great potential, and inked him to a 7 year/ $42 million contract. Puig looked like he was worth every penny of his contract, in his showing last year, as he hit .354 across Rookie-ball and High-A ball. Puig really started to open eyes in Spring Training this year, when he went on a tear, hitting well above .400, while consistently playing in Cactus League games. With the fans begging for Puig to make the Opening Day Roster, Don Mattingly decided that in the best interest of the Cuban phoneme, he start the year at Triple-A Chattanooga. Puig returned to human in the minors, hitting .313 with 8 HR, still stellar numbers. Puig got the call to the bigs on June 3, and welcomed himself by going 2-4, and by showing off his arm. With 1 out in the 9th inning, against the San Diego Padres, a flyball was struck to the wall in right field, where Puig composedly caught, and threw an absolute missile to 1st base to double off the baserunner, who wasn’t all that far off the base in the 1st place. Puig has 9 multi-hit games in his 1st 12 games, and has showed light-tower power to all fields, and is leaving pitchers scrambling to find a hole in his swing. We all saw the impacts of Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Many Machado on their respective teams last season, but Puigmania has struck Los Angeles, and if they were destined to play in the 2013 Postseason, then they will ride Puig’s 5-tools into October. Puig is the next face of the MLB, and is already a household name, after just 15 big-league games